Absolutely, hands down, the worst experience AFTER dinner I have ever experienced. I have never written a review right after dinner; In fact I am sitting at our hotel lobby using their computer to post this because it needs to be read.
My father is on the road and we decided to drive from Utah to Idaho Falls to come visit him for a few days over the weekend and treat him to a dinner that is different from the normal hotel food. We gave him a choice of any restaurant in Idaho Falls and he conservatively chose a safe bet - Applebee's.
We were seated quickly and the first thing we did was place the electronic menu/game screen they now have on the tables up on the window sill (this will come into play later in the review). they were busy and I am sure under a lot of stress. I have briefly worked in a restaurant and know this can be stressful. Our server, Sadie, was as attentive as she could be and we understood.
Dinner and dessert were served with no issues, you could tell Sadie was stressed out but that was no issue. The check came and I paid. When the receipt came out for me to sign, I glanced at the receipt and noticed that we had been charged $1.99 for a game. Remember that electronic menu/game screen we put on the window sill? Yep. Now this has happened once before and that's why we had no interest in using it. I questioned Sadie and she stated it could have been a kid that ran by and touched the screen before we were seated and that I should have reviewed the receipt before I paid. she then mentioned that she was sorry and they could take care of it. I then asked if that meant that they would have to charge my card again for the adjusted amount. She did not know.....
Enter Chelsey (another server). Sadie asked Chelsey if this would be the case (card being charged twice). Without skipping a beat Chelsey stated "It's because you touched the button!" She didn't even hear the question apparently. At that point my wife was providing feedback for the use of these electronic devices at the tables and that it was feedback for Applebee's corporate since this continues to be an issue. Meanwhile I asked for a manager. Tina (the manager) came to our table and proceeded to reiterate our responsibility in the matter effectively continuing to place blame on us, the guests of the restaurant.
While we were in the middle of the conversation with the manager, Chelsey decided to again put her two cents in and stated that we should calm down and that we have been rude to all of the servers. I WAS DUMBFOUNDED! First of all, we had, up until that point, only interacted with Sadie and continued to state that we were upset at what happened but it was not a reflection on the service she provided. Second of all, this must have been a defense Chelsey was playing since she was clearly out of line shouting that we "touched the button" and now a manager was involved.
Bottom line, I get that Saturday nights in a restaurant can be stressful but I can tell you that for what it's worth, Applebee's has lost any future business simply because of Chelsey's actions. Thank you Chelsey, for ruining what could have ended in a good night by lying and placing blame on your guests. Sadie and Tina, although it could have been handled slightly different, did an ok job. I will definitely be happy to eat at a competitor's establishment going forward, far far away from Applebee's in Idaho Falls. read more